Fourth annual Nature Fest set April 12-13

Free event at Fair Park to feature snakes

The fourth annual Milam County Nature Festival will be held April 12-13 at Rockdale’s Fair Park. The free event is open to the whole family and is sponsored by the El Camino Real Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist. This is the second year in a row for the event to be held in Rockdale.

Event hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, rain or shine at Fair Park and this year’s “featured critter” will be the snake.

In addit ion to dozens of “hands-on” exhibits during the day, there will be six featured presentations, including an Invasive Hunter Academy, Live Snakes Presentation, “Snakes of Texas”, Urban Wildlife Encounters, Feral Hogs and Wildlife Habitat Improvement.

ACTIVITIES—Exhibits and activities will be scattered all over the park and will include:

• Snakes.

• Bees and honeycombs.

• Butterflies.

• Fish habitats.

• Backyard bass.

• Texas crawdads.

• Pollinators.

• Houston toads and a toad maze.

• Knapping (stone shaping, not sleeping).

• Native grasses.

• Making animal track molds.

• An archeology primer on digging for artifacts.

• Angler education.

• Numerous nature crafts.

• Face painting.

Winners from the nature photo contest will be announced at 2 p.m. Saturday and winning photos will be on display.

Food and drinks will be available during the Nature Fest, including breakfast and lunch items.

More information on Nature Fest, and on the El Camino Real Master Naturalists, is available online at txmn.org/elcamino/ naturefest.